Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

7 reviews

dexkit10's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Mental illness, Colonisation, and Child abuse

uncreativeoops's review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is a sort of Jane Eyre-retelling/sequel from Adèle's (Rochester's daughter) point of view which was a nice surprise. I always love retellings and reexaminations of characters offering a different perspective on the original plot. Some of the character's behaviour didn't fit with my reading of Jane Eyre, but it was an interesting interpretation and definitely worth for the story the author wanted to tell (though if you consider Jane Eyre to be the greatest romance of all time this is probably not the book for you. I've always loved it for Jane's determination and less for Rochester, which made the plot in this one much more logical). There's a lot of female solidarity and rightful anger, sometimes to the point of cheesiness, and I felt some of the conflicts were too easily resolved. A few more chapters wouldn't have been a bad idea, giving the problems more time to unfold and allowing the side characters to be more complex; some of them seemed to be not much more than plot devices whose motivation were only hinted at but could have been interesting. The novel wants to tell of so many lives that the protagonist encounters and somehow never finds the space to do so satisfactorily. On the other hand, this plus the very nice and flowing writing means that it's the perfect novel to be finished in one rainy day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Physical abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Colonisation

ladylothlorien's review

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I had to sit with this one for a little bit before reviewing it because the ending was like being bucked off a horse without any warning.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. I loved the queer representation and the very happy, very queer ending for Adele. I also enjoyed her as an avenging angel, especially as the time period was so very restrictive for women (and queer people!). I want to join Nan's family as it is just a lovely example of why having a place where you can be entirely yourself with zero judgment is so important. The main issue I had was

the sudden reveal of Rochester as an incestuous would-be rapist who had been masquerading as Adele's beloved pen pal Eric for years. It was a huge shock to me. I've read other Jane Eyre-adjacent adaptations such as Wide Sargasso Sea, so I fully realize a lot of people hate Rochester (with good reason). I've just never seen him as irredeemably bad and Cornwell's Rochester is absolutely irredeemably bad. Which is why Adele kills him with her now trademark "toss man from a great height" MO (really appreciated the realism of this being the most effective way for her to kill). 

I struggled to see how Adele had always known this "darkness" in Rochester, even how he might have planned this from the start of taking in Adele. Reading the author's note at the end and her story of being sexually abused by her father helped me understand it better. I can understand now why the author saw a similar darkness in Rochester in Jane Eyre that she saw in her own father. I don't know that I see the same thing, but I can appreciate the author's perspective and how she channeled her story into Adele's.

I was leaning towards three stars but having sat with this for a while, I'm upgrading to four because overall this was a very good story and even if I may disagree with the author's interpretation of Rochester, I appreciate the interpretation. It's one of the things that I enjoy most about retellings and adaptations: the differences in how people interpret characters and plot points. Definitely want to read more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Murder, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent

Some of these content warnings are specifically about the ending of the story (gaslighting, incest, pedophilia). If you want to know what happens:

Rochester reveals that he is really "Eric" the boy that Adele has been writing to for years and that she fell in love with. He then tries to convince Adele to essentially become his mistress but he'll set her up in a separate home so they can pretend they are married to the locals. It's also clear that he has been faking or exaggerating his illness to get Adele to come home from her boarding school. Then he tries to sexually assault her and as they are fighting, she deliberately tosses him out a window, killing him.

As for the queer characters, it's clear that it's taboo to be a lesbian or trans, and keeping those things secret is important. However, there isn't any active lesbophobia or transphobia. And no one is hurt because of their queerness, although plenty of women are hurt for being women.

awakeningbiblio's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This books was a complexity of things and sometimes I wasn’t sure what was happening. After listening to the authors note I gain more perspective than just listening to it. However the narrator was fantastic. I’m also not sure if I would classify this as young adult or new adult. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

toorsdenote's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Confinement, Violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization

cboddie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

9th & up

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Gaslighting

caidyn's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wow. I wasn't expecti this at all. I figured it would more be a retelling of Jane Eyre, but it totally went in its own direction. Queer. Murderous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Gaslighting, Incest, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape